Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Achievements
Elephant House has been rated
among the most valuable brands
in the country, according to the
ratings published by LMD in its
December 2005 issue, which
also judged the brand to be the
second most powerful brand in
Sri Lanka. CCS also won the
National Icon Award at the first
such ceremony organised by the
Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing
(SLIM), which is an indication of
its widespread popularity. One
of the Elephant House products,
Cream Soda, won the
SLIM/ACNielsen Power Of The
People award for the most
popular beverage in Sri Lanka,
which is a significant
achievement. Committed
employees and the right
processes have contributed the
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SUPERBRANDS
History
CCS was originally known as The
New Colombo Ice Company and was
launched more than 100 years ago, in
1894, having purchased the Colombo
Ice Company, which was producing
ice and mineral water at that time. In
1922, an era of improvement began
with the replacement of the old
rubber-ringed bottles by crown corks.
At a time when there were no
advertising agencies, the company
announced its changes from old to
new bottles in an intriguing caption, A
Tale Of Two Bottles. This also gave
way to the symbol of an elephant on
the bottle, a sign that it contained a
potent brew. More than eight
decades later, the elephant symbol
still remains on the brands bottles
and has even become the companys
official logo. Due to its association
with the elephant logo, CCS is better
known by the public as Elephant
House.
In 1935, the company installed its
own carbonic acid gas-generating
plant to reduce the heavy cost of
imports and proceeded to produce
carbon dioxide and dry ice. In 1936,
CCS installed the latest automatic
machinery at that time, used in the
production of carbonated soft drinks,
which were then known as aerated
waters. Presently, one of Sri Lankas
leading blue-chip companies, John
Keells Holdings, owns Elephant
House. The companys production
facility, which was previously located
in Colombo, has shifted to a factory
at Ranala.
Product
Carbonated soft drinks are a thirst
quencher and consumers are known
to purchase them mostly on impulse.
This requires the product to be
widely available, especially in its chilled
form, in places where impulse buyers
could readily purchase them. CCS
also caters to the bulk or take-home
market with its 1.5-litre mega bottles.
According to Elephant House, both
these segments recorded double-digit
growth in 2005. CCS manufactures a
Brand Values
Recent Developments
Elephant Soft Drinks has been reengineering itself in many areas. The
company has redefined its
manufacturing systems and adopted a
new operating model. The changes
were intended to increase
manufacturing productivity and reduce
procurement spending.
CCS merged with Ceylon Cold
Stores Distributors with the aim of
increasing distribution efficiency by
bringing their respective activities
under a single supply-chain function.
Voluntary retirement schemes have
been introduced to optimise the
number of employees, with the intention of
becoming a leaner company focused on efficiency.
The overseas demand for Elephant Soft
Drinks in traditional glass bottles and cans is
growing although export volumes have been
moderately low. In 2005, exports grew by 50%
over the previous year. The company markets its
products in Western Europe, Thailand and
North America, and is exploring opportunities
to expand in several different geographical
regions.
Promotion
The companys well-planned and effectively
executed marketing strategies are considered
the driving force behind the brands success in
the carbonated soft drinks business. All possible
media such as electronic, print, radio, billboards
and posters are used in the promotion of
Elephant-branded products. Consumer and sales
promotions are also widely used as tools to
attract new consumers. Much emphasis is placed
on TV, because it is an attractive medium that
www.keells.com
THINGS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT
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